Coffee Break: Grant funds new UTHSC center for foster children

A four-year $1.6 million grant from the federal government are being used to establish a center to aid foster children at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center.

The UT Center of Excellence for Children in State Custody, located at the school's Boling Center for Developmental Disabilities, is designed to increase access to services for youth in foster care who have experienced trauma.

The center will serve as a Community Treatment and Services Center in the National Child Traumatic Stress Network.

The grant came from the National Child Stress Initiative and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration of the Department of Health and Human Services.

The grant will also fund a project to help health care providers, lawmakers and state agencies make decisions about foster children who have experienced trauma.

Cigarette taxes lead to smuggling

About 10 percent of the cigarettes in Arkansas and Mississippi in 2011 were smuggled in from lower-tax states, according to Tax Foundation.org.

The low-tax advocacy group, citing a new study by Michigan's Mackinac Center for Public Policy, said Mississippi was ranked 24th among the states in cigarette smuggling, a result of a 68-cent per pack tax.

Arkansas ranked 25th – with smuggling accounting for 9.6 percent of the cigarettes consumed in the state. Its per pack tax: $1.15. In Tennessee. 2.4 percent of the cigarettes were sent out of state. Tennessee's tax per pack: 62 cents.

Leading the pack in smuggling: New York. Its tax of $4.68 per pack resulted in 61 percent of the cigarettes being smuggled in from other states. Noted Tax Foundation: "Smuggling takes many forms: counterfeit state tax stamps, counterfeit versions of legitimate brands, hijacked trucks, or officials turning a blind eye."

Mississippi joins rice board

The Mississippi Rice Promotion Board joined the USA Rice Federation at the beginning of the month and the national organization said it now represents about 90 percent of the U.S. rice industry.

The Mississippi board voted to join the national organization in December. Mississippi members will now join national efforts in research, lobbying and rice promotion.

Lawyers to honor bankruptcy judge

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Paulette J. Delk will be honored at the Association for Women Attorneys' 33rd annual banquet on Jan. 17 at the Tower Center, 5100 Poplar.

Delk will receive the Marion Griffin-Frances Loring Award for outstanding achievements in the legal profession.